David Liss to write ‘The Shadow Now’ comic

The Shadow may know what evil lurks in the hearts of men, but it’ll take David Liss to show him just how to spot it in today’s ne’er-do-wells.

The San Antonio-based comic book writer and historical fiction novelist will tell a modern tale of the classic pulp hero in “The Shadow Now,” an upcoming comic miniseries that transports the vigilante of the 1930s to present-day New York City. “The Shadow Now” No. 1 (of 6) hits in October by Dynamite Entertainment.

For Liss, whose other comic works include “Black Panther” and “Mystery Men” for Marvel, writing the Shadow offers yet another opportunity to revisit pulp history in the pages of sequential art and make a little of his own.

“It’s not unlike what I did for ‘The Spider,'” Liss said, referring to his other modern comic about a storied pulp hero. “And moving a classic pulp character from the ’30s into our time, actually it gives you a little more wiggle room. Because the Shadow in particular is a tough nut to crack. He’s one of those characters who’s the shark… he’s just this thing that’s out there, and he’s menacing. And so having him be in an era in which he’s a little bit unfamiliar and doesn’t quite know his way around is really an opportunity to write a more approachable, more human Shadow. And I really enjoyed taking it from that perspective.”

David Liss (Express-News file photo)

As the Dynamite official announcement notes, the Shadow dates back to 1930 as the mysterious narrator of the “Detective Story Hour” radio program. About a year later, pulp magazines painted him as a relentless black-clad vigilante who tears through the criminal element with hypnotic powers and twin .45 caliber handguns. The character eventually leaped into comics, films and other media. A few years ago, Dynamite launched an ongoing Shadow comic written by “Preacher” scribe Garth Ennis.

“I feel like every issue Colton does is like a huge leap forward,” Liss said. “And he’s already starting from somewhere great.”

Liss noted “The Shadow Now” will utilize the same kind of narrative technique Howard Chaykin used in the 1980s to bring the Shadow into modern times. In Liss’ comic, Lamont Cranston returns to Manhattan after a decades-long rejuvenation in the East, eager to slap on the black garb and blood red scarf to take on the 21st century’s worst.

Though the Shadow may find his biggest threat has come back from his past to haunt him.

“By the end of the first issue you’ll see he has bigger things to worry about than not knowing what Wi-Fi is,” Liss said.